No. 12 Cal Beats Gauchos 6-1 In Opener

Hannah Viller Moeller won in straight sets in Cal’s dominant win over UCSB.

WTEN1/21/2023 3:47 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – In its dual-match opener and 2023 home debut, the 12th-ranked California women’s tennis team defeated UC Santa Barbara, 6-1, on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Hannah Viller Moeller clinched the victory when the Cal junior beat Marta Gonzalez-Ballbe, 6-0, 6-1.
 
The Golden Bears opened at 1-0 with the nonconference result, while the Gauchos evened their record at 1-1.
 
“We had a nice crowd and nice weather today,” said Cal head coach Amanda Augustus, who saw the Bears’ Cal Winter Invitational get rained out last week. “We’re happy to open the dual-match season here at Hellman and have the debut of Berta Passola Folch on our home courts. We’re just settling in and building, one match at a time.”
 
UCSB was shorthanded Saturday, which led to just two official doubles matches between the two teams and a forfeit win on court three for the Bears. Cal needed to win just one more match to collect the doubles point, but the Gauchos pushed the Bears, with Kira Reuter and Amelia Honer upsetting Cal’s 15th-ranked Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm, 6-1, on court one. The Bears captured the doubles point when Haley Giavara and Erin Richardson beat Gonzalez-Ballbe and Camille Kiss, 6-3, on court two.
 
Cal took a 2-0 lead to start singles since UCSB didn’t have a sixth singles player and had to forfeit court six. Wiersholm quickly gave Cal a 3-0 advantage when she bested Reuter, 6-1, 6-0, on court three. Passola Folch, a freshman who recently joined the Bears, had a chance to clinch a Cal victory in her first dual match – as a freshman Wiersholm did one year ago against the Gauchos. But Viller Moeller completed her match on court four first to give Cal a 4-0 lead, and then Passola Folch beat Valentina Khrebtova, 6-1, 6-2, on court five to make it a 5-0 margin.
 
After the 16th-ranked Alsola topped Kiss, 6-3, 6-3, on court two, UCSB’s Honer – ranked 49th – edged Cal senior Haley Giavara on court one, 2-6, 6-1, 1-0(8), to make the final score 6-1.
 
With Sunday’s match against 10th-ranked Pepperdine rescheduled to Feb. 5 at 12 p.m. at Hellman, Cal next plays Princeton on Friday, Jan. 27, to start the ITA Kickoff Weekend in…